[Depth] From mobile games, short video platforms to TV dramas, Chinese new cultural products frequently produce "explosive styles" overseas

  [Global Times reporter Zheng Kelin Ritao, Aoki, Huang Xiaona, Huang Xiaona, and Zhang Tingge] Editor’s note: For many years, countries have maintained their cultural image through specific products and symbols—the United States has Hollywood, Coca-Cola and pop music, and the United Kingdom has the royal family and James. Bond, Italy has opera and Renaissance painters, Japan has animation, South Korea has K-Pop... In the eyes of the outside world, Chinese culture is often closely related to kung fu, pandas, Chinese food, etc., but compared with European and American countries, Japan and South Korea , Our cultural influence is lacking.

This situation is gradually improving in recent years.

Deutsche Radio said in a recent article that new cultural products such as Chinese online games and short video platforms are becoming more and more popular around the world. Their characteristics include being interesting and non-political.

In addition to the well-known TikTok, Chinese companies have also created "explosive models" in some countries and regions.

In addition, relying on new Internet carriers, Chinese novels, film and television dramas, and other "going to sea" are also increasing.

The secret to the success of mobile games: "calibrate course"

  The 21-year-old Lucas is a computer information student at the Technical University of Berlin.

He told the "Global Times" reporter that "King of Glory International" is one of the online games he usually likes to play, and he has recently become fascinated by the "Original God", which shows a "fantastic world".

In Lucas's view, Chinese games are now very international and have many new inspirations.

  Justin is a student of animation major at the University of Washington in the United States. When interviewed by a reporter from the Global Times, he also mentioned that he is a "fan" of the original god.

Justin said that the level of image processing and soundtrack of this game is "comparable to a big movie." Very few games of the same type can do this.

In the second half of last year, the game ranked among the six highest-paid mobile games in the United States. Many American players commented that it has beautiful graphics, rich content, and particular attention to details. It is a high-cost, high-volume, and high-quality game.

  In the Google Play app store in the United States, "King of Glory" and "Yuanshen" have tens of millions of downloads.

Mobile games have become China's main cultural product to open up markets in Europe and the United States.

According to a report released by the technology website Techcrunch, in the fourth quarter of 2020, 21 Chinese mobile games entered the Top 100 best-selling list in the United States, with revenue of 780 million US dollars, which is more than three times the number two years ago.

According to statistics, Chinese mobile games account for 20% of the US mobile game market revenue.

  A game development professional told the Global Times reporter that the rapid opening of Chinese mobile games in the European and American markets is mainly due to the work of "calibrating the course" before "going out to sea".

Take "Glory of the King" as an example. Since many characters in the game are derived from Chinese classics and myths, they are a bit unfamiliar to overseas players. Therefore, in the production of the international version, Western cultural characters and game scenes have also been added. Some western elements.

These measures can solve some of the "unacceptable" problems, and at the same time attract foreign players to learn about the characters and narrative background in the game, and then take the initiative to come into contact with Chinese historical stories and traditional culture.

  There are many examples of "localization". For example, the game background of "Musker Era" was set in the European Middle Ages; the sci-fi style mobile game "Second Galaxy", which is more popular in North America recently, although its English version is called "and Chinese" The version is the same", but the passwords, gestures and "world structure" are also recognized by local players as "not unfamiliar."

  "Chinese mobile games are also trying to cooperate with well-known foreign companies to launch big IP linkage activities, such as Marvel heroes that are popular all over the world." said the aforementioned professionals.

NetEase Games also launched "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", which was authorized by the movie copyright owner.

  Chinese mobile games are not only popular in European and American countries.

In recent years, a game called "Endless Duel" has had a large number of players in Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.-The Philippines has more than 14 million monthly active users, and almost 1 in 10 Filipinos play this game. ; And in Indonesia, "Endless Showdown" has more than 100 million downloads and more than 80 million monthly active users, which can be described as a "national game".

When the Philippines hosted the Southeast Asian Games in 2019, "Endless Showdown" was included in the e-sports competition.

  The success of the game is also inseparable from "localization."

The game company invited well-known Indonesian cartoonists to participate in the creation of game characters, and incorporated the legendary heroic image of the country "King Kong" into the game plot.

For Filipino users, there is Lapu Lapu, a national hero they are familiar with, in "Endless Showdown".

"This effectively shortens the distance between this game and the Filipinos." said Joe Bot, founder of the Philippine E-sports Game Summit.

Streaming media platforms attach importance to localized production

  The German reporter of the Global Times found that some of his friends had recently fallen in love with Chinese TV series, such as Stefanni, a housewife from Hamburg.

Her husband is an engineer in the Volkswagen Group. She and her two children may be living in China for several years after the epidemic.

Stefanie is now "tutorial" Chinese knowledge, but he did not expect to become a "drama fan."

  "In the past, if you wanted to watch Chinese film and television series, you had to wait for the TV station to broadcast it, or rent a video. It was inconvenient and the number of films was very small. Now, there are many choices on streaming media such as Netflix, Viki, and iQiyi." Ni told the "Global Times" reporter that because of language, she most often uses Netflix, which has at least an English version and even a German version.

  "Global Times" reporters have seen that there are dozens of Chinese TV dramas on Netflix, such as "Tiansheng Long Song", "White Night Chasing Murder", "Three Lives III and Ten Miles of Peach Blossom", "Chen Qingling", "To Our Simple Little Beauty" , Covering various genres, and some dramas have been translated into more than a dozen languages ​​by Netflix.

However, compared with Korean dramas, the number of Chinese TV dramas is still relatively small.

  Compared with the European and American markets, Chinese streaming media platforms seem to have made greater strides in entering the Southeast Asian market, and a number of variety shows have gained a lot of attention.

For example, "Creation Camp 2020" and "Creation Camp 2021" have successively caused a boom in ratings in Thailand. During the broadcast of the program, it frequently appeared on the local social media hot search lists, deriving more than 200 related hot search topics.

According to Tencent Video (Thailand), due to the popular broadcast of "Creation Camp 2021", Tencent Video has registered 400,000 more users in Thailand.

Previously, original products of Chinese streaming media platforms such as the documentary "Flavor in the World" and variety show "Wonderful Flowers" have also attracted a large number of fans in Southeast Asia.

  Actively integrating local elements and attaching importance to localized production are one of the reasons why Chinese streaming media platforms are increasingly favored.

After iQiyi launched its overseas version in the Southeast Asian market, it immediately started cooperating with a number of Malaysian Internet companies and film and television drama production companies to launch a number of Malay TV dramas.

In August last year, the Thai-language TV series "Genius Gunner" co-produced by Tencent Video and the Thai company was officially launched on the overseas version of Tencent Video.

"Joint production is conducive to the production of more high-quality content, and it can also help the promotion of Chinese platforms in Southeast Asia." Said Kanonphong Prachasai, the Thailand regional manager of Tencent Video's overseas version.

  Paishan, a professor at the National School of Administration of Thailand, said that the rapid economic development in Southeast Asia is similar to the consumption habits of Chinese users.

China continues to improve the technology of video websites, and Southeast Asian countries are also in a critical period of digital economy transformation. There is great potential for cooperation between the two parties.

  Speaking of China's new cultural products, I have to mention the world-famous short video application TikTok, which is also a streaming media platform.

Last year, the Trump administration's attempt to ban TikTok caused an uproar, and at the same time attracted attention to the popularity of this app.

Data shows that TikTok has more than 100 million active users in the United States, of which 10 to 19-year-olds account for 32.5%, and 20 to 29-year-olds account for 29.5%.

Moreover, mainstream American media such as The Washington Post have also opened accounts on TikTok.

  In Germany, according to the observation of a reporter from the Global Times, most middle school and university students have downloaded TikTok.

"I have met many Chinese short video bloggers on this platform, and also learned a lot of Chinese customs." Klaus, a middle school student from Dresden, told the Global Times reporter that he sometimes participated in challenge activities Chinese user interaction.

He bluntly said that the image he saw on TikTok was very different from the image in German media reports.

  Not only young people, but many elderly people are also using TikTok.

The Wall Street Journal recently cited an example in its report that Lynn Davis, a 64-year-old man who lives in New Jersey, USA, has updated his video almost every day since he opened his account in June last year. The main content is cooking food, earning 2.6 million in less than half a year. Fans.

According to the report, elderly people in European and American countries have discovered that they can communicate and interact with young people on this platform, bringing happiness to themselves and defeating loneliness.

"The difference with TikTok is that generations of people are educating and connecting with each other in a really interesting and creative way," said Donna Davis, an associate professor at the University of Oregon.

"Going to sea" caught up with a good time, but...

  There are still many Chinese cultural products that are popular in other countries.

In France, more and more Chinese comics have appeared in recent years. For example, the "Le Parisian" rated "The Legend of Bao Zheng" as "the most popular work by readers", and it has sold tens of thousands of copies in Europe.

  In Southeast Asia, online literature has also become a form of Chinese culture "going abroad".

In 2017, China Reading Group officially launched the overseas portal "Starting Point International", which uses English translations of Chinese online literature as the main content of the website. Currently, there are more than 1,700 online works.

According to media reports, Filipino users spend an average of more than an hour in "Starting Point International" every day.

In addition, China Reading Group has authorized the publication of digital and physical books in Thailand, Vietnam and other countries, and authorized more than 700 works.

  Assong Si, an associate professor at the School of Economics at Thammasat University in Thailand, told the Global Times that Japanese and South Korean cultures have always had a deep influence on Southeast Asian young people. In comparison, Chinese contemporary culture lacks a sense of existence.

But now, this situation is changing. "China's economic influence is expanding, and cultural exchanges with Southeast Asian countries are increasing. Chinese culture is increasingly coming to Southeast Asia through the Internet."

  “China’s cultural attraction to France is getting stronger and stronger,” Nicolas, who teaches at a high school in Paris, also told a reporter from the Global Times. “In our school, many students want to learn Chinese, understand China, and even Some people are very interested in Chinese history and are attracted by places that are very different from Western history."

In his view, there are reasons for the influence of Chinese films. The works of Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and others have allowed foreign audiences to see the "exotic" side of China, making them aware of the ancient Chinese court culture and various aesthetic tastes. The West is very different.

  When analyzing the reasons for the popularity of some new Chinese cultural products abroad, Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the China Academy of Art, told the Global Times reporter that truly well-done and influential cultural products are basically in line with the media iteration cycle. of.

For example, the popular Hong Kong and Taiwan movies in the 1980s and 1990s are closely related to the popularization of color televisions, video recorders and cable television networks.

Since 2010, mobile Internet has developed rapidly in my country, and its popularity and coverage are in a leading position in the world.

Based on this, Chinese companies have many potential advantages in launching cultural products.

  However, a French cultural sociology professor interviewed by a "Global Times" reporter also mentioned that compared with economic influence, Chinese cultural influence is insufficient. For example, few recent Chinese literary works are popular in France, and There are not many movies that have hit the market, and the works of famous directors can attract the attention of French people.

  "In addition to conforming to the trend of media iteration cycles, good content output is also needed." Sun Jiashan said that China often pays more attention to content, less emphasis on form, or opposing the two. One result of this is that individual works may be able to It is popular overseas, but it is difficult to drive the phenomenal overseas performance of Chinese culture.

For example, Liu Cixin's "Three Body" is very influential in the entire European and North American markets. However, Chinese novels and movies are traditional literary categories, and their overseas influence is hard to compare with games, live broadcasts and short videos.

  Sun Jiashan told the "Global Times" reporter that China’s new generation of cultural products has a good time to go overseas. "But we have to admit that as an overall industry, our international competitiveness is still relatively weak. "One of the main reasons is that the actual development cycle is still relatively short. "China proposed to cultivate culture as a pillar industry of the national economy, many years later than Japan and South Korea."

Another issue that needs to be noticed is that the Chinese cultural products that are currently popular abroad are more because they are popular and popular, rather than because they have enough Chinese cultural charm.

  Several interviewees also mentioned this issue to the Global Times reporter.

American college student Justin said that if you don’t know it in particular, users may not know that Yuanshen is a game made by a Chinese company because the game product lacks some Chinese elements.

Assong Si, an associate professor at the School of Economics at Thammasat University in Thailand, also said that the localization of "Endless Showdown" is done very well, but many experienced players do not know that this is a Chinese game.

"How to better tell the Chinese story and Chinese experience, this is the direction we must work harder when we launch cultural products in the future and are committed to expanding cultural influence." Sun Jiashan said.